


Haunted Nights

by TheClassics4



Series: spinner!Rum x Belle [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 02:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheClassics4/pseuds/TheClassics4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumpelstiltskin seeks comfort in Belle's bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunted Nights

>The work Belle did was not particularly taxing. It was mostly sweeping and laundry and cooking. That day, however, there was a bit more. Bae had come home dirtier than usual. Belle had noticed as she washed how his trousers had worn and Rumpelstiltskin had given her some yarn to mend where they had ripped through.

He watched her as she mended his son’s clothes; he probably could have done a better job at it, but he was busy with the bundle of wool in his hand. Already, with her help, he’d started earning more money. The more wool he spun, the more money he made and with her there, he could spin the entire day with little interruptions.

Belle was glad to be of some help to them. What little gold she’d brought with her had quickly been spent in the first month of her stay. Rumpelstiltskin had never even mentioned of her leaving, but she knew she was a drain on his income. It was changing lately. He’d been able to sell more wool and Belle had even been able to earn a bit of money by teaching the village children to read.

“Ah,” Belle gasped as the needle sliced through the warn fabric and into her finger.

“Are you—” Rumpelstiltskin turned on his stool but stopped when he saw her slipping the needle from her finger. It was a deep gash and she held her hand to herself to avoid dripping blood onto Bae’s clothing. She stood at the kitchen table, looking for a cloth to wrap it in. The closest thing was her cleaning rag. It wasn’t the cleanest, but it would have to do.

The wheel had started turning and, when Belle looked up, Rumpelstiltskin was intently watching the wool he spun. She should have tried harder not to let him see, she knew the sight of blood upset him. He’d spent years fighting in the ogre wars and had seen unspeakable things. Blood was a sick reminder to whatever he’d witnessed. He didn’t speak of his time in the army, what she knew, she knew from Baelfire. Even then, he knew only a little.

The limp in his leg was from an attack on their camp. He had a scar on his chest from a separate attack. He never slept soundly because of those nights. Belle didn’t need Bae to tell her that. She had never been a heavy sleeper and every night, she could hear Rumpelstiltskin turning and sitting up in the night, walking around when he was even more restless.

“Belle?” Bae called, leaning his head out of the washroom door. “Are my pants done yet?”

“Yes,” she stepped away from the table, but Rumpelstiltskin had already stood. He seized the mended trousers and limped silently to hand them to his son.

With her bleeding hand still cradled against her stomach, she tried to keep the bloodied cloth from his sight. Rumpelstiltskin still glanced at where she held her hand before returning to his seat.

The cut in her finger stung, but the bleeding was starting to ease. In the few minutes it took for Bae to dress, she no longer needed the cloth. “Belle!” he called, bounding from the washroom, “Belle, come look at what we made!”

He pulled her outside, calling for his Papa to come and see as well.

Belle almost laughed when Bae dragged her to the edge of Rumpelstiltskin’s property. There, Moraine and Peter stood shoulder deep in a hole. Hansel stood above the hole, looking down but being careful not to fall in.

“You dug a hole?” Belle asked, stepping up to the side.

“Mmhmm,” Bae said proudly, stepping back to bring his father forward. Rumpelstiltskin caught Bae around the shoulders as he stood at the edge of the hole. “We’re gunna dig down to the dwarf mines.”

“That’s pretty far down,” Rumpelstiltskin mused.

“I know, but we can do it.”

“Well, not tonight. You can do that tomorrow,” Belle insisted. “I already washed your clothes once today.”

“But—” Bae started to protest, but Rumpelstiltskin tightened his hold.

“Belle’s right, son. It’s almost dark,” he said. “Help your friends out of there and come back inside.”

“Yes, Papa,” Bae said, with a small look of disappointment.

Belle smiled at him and gave his shoulder a pat before following after Rumpelstiltskin. She jogged a bit to reach him at the door and stopped him before he could go to sit back at his wheel.

“Are you alright?”

“I…Yes. I am. I’m just tired.” And he did look tired. He’d been at his work the entire day, even taking his meals while he worked. But it was more than that. She knew he would not sleep tonight. Belle took his hand. “Why don’t you go to to bed, I can make sure Bae gets in alright.”

He was too tired to protest. He nodded and retreated to the washroom. It wasn’t a surprise to see Bae speaking with Moraine when Belle looked out the window. They were great friends and she would guess in a few years, they might even be married. Of course, she said nothing when Bae trotted back inside. She fed him a bit of bread and butter when he said he was still hungry after supper. She picked at her own slice, quietly watching as Rumpelstiltskin blew out the candles and hobbled into his bed.

Bae gave a massive yawn and Belle laughed, taking the teetering glass of milk from him before it fell. “Come on,” she whispered and led him to his bed in the corner. Rumpelstiltskin watched with half closed eyes as they passed him and she smiled at him.

The sky outside the windows had gone black and Belle found herself yawning as she lay down in her own blanketed nook. Bae’s snoring at first had kept her awake, but the easy rhythm of it now helped to lull her into unconsciousness.

It was the soft calling of her name that roused her. It must have been a few hours later, but she didn’t understand why. It was still completely black in their small cottage and Rumpelstiltskin didn’t sound alarmed.

“Belle?” He whispered again, his voice breaking. “Are you awake?”

She turned, barely able to make him out in the darkness. She wasn’t surprised to see him standing above her, but she could tell he was holding something. When she reached out for it, she sighed. It was the bloodied cloth. She’d left it lying on the table when Bae had pulled her outside. Her eyes were adjusting and she could see him staring at it, a look of terror on his face.

“Hey, come here,” she said when he took in a sharp breath. She scooted back against the wall so she could pull him next to her and he immediately wrapped himself around her. The bloodied rag had been lost somewhere as he lay down next to her.

His sobs muffled as he buried his face in her bosom. It was the place he preferred to nestle in when he came to her bed on nights like these. It was such an intimate place for him to be, but she didn’t feel the need to push him away. He was not seeking any kind of pleasure from her body, only comfort.

“Shh,” she stroked the back of his hair as he held her tighter. He was trying to keep himself quiet, trying not to wake his son and he held her with a crushing grip. What would Bae think if he were ever to wake to this? Rumpelstiltskin tried to be strong in the face of his son, but Belle thought Bae knew how troubled his father was. Would he be surprised if he ever awoke at night to find his father weeping in her bed? She didn’t think so.

“It’s okay,” she crooned, kissing the top of his head. His hands strayed from her back to her hair, stroking it as she stroked his. There were tangles in both, his much more tousled from tossing restlessly in the night and she tried to smooth where it stuck out. Soon, his tears would cease. Having her in his arms soothed him quickly. Eventually, his hand did come to rest lightly on her shoulder and his breathing steadied.

Belle didn’t like to admit she liked the nights when Rumpelstiltskin would crawl into her bed. She didn’t like to see him hurting, didn’t like to see him relive such horrible memories, but in these moments, when they were both content to lie there in black silence, she liked having him in her arms. It was nice to fall asleep while they held each other. Leaning her head down, she rested her cheek against his head.

There was little sound around them, Bae’s breathing and crickets out the window, and Belle was slowly being pulled back into sleep. She knew when she awoke Rumpelstiltskin would be in his own bed. Or at his wheel. And they would say nothing of these moments.


End file.
